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There is an old saying: When one door closes, another one opens.
However, if doors close in the Cook County public health system, who will open a door to those patients?
If thousands of patients lose their medical home, where will they go? What will happen when they put off seeking health care until they end up at the closest emergency room? Family physicians have many questions, but the current budget recommendations don't provide many answers.
For years, the county leaders used Band-Aid approaches to "stop the bleeding" in the budget. Meanwhile, the numbers of uninsured in the county are growing and people are getting sicker. Radical surgery on the budget now won't solve our health care crisis any more than the Band-Aid has so far.
Family Medicine physicians working at the Near South Health Center absorb the majority of these patients referred both from emergency and the inpatient service from Provident Hospital for follow-up and primary care. Family physicians care for families at Stroger Hospital, in the school clinics and in the community clinics. In short, family physicians practice where they are needed most.
Like many of its patients, the Cook County health system is suffering from many chronic problems. When a patient suffers from multiple conditions -- such as diabetes, high blood pressure and depression, for example -- that patient needs several medications, careful monitoring and lifestyle changes in order feel better. Family physicians are best trained to treat the entire patient, with all their conditions and help them navigate the health system. Family physicians help patients prevent many of the devastating illnesses that cost lives and precious health care dollars.
Fixing the county health budget is much like helping a sick patient. It takes a comprehensive family-medicine approach. It means correctly diagnosing all the problems and monitoring the patient while preventing future health crises.
A "family medicine" approach to the county's health budget is needed to manage all the problems and prevent future failures in the county safety net. Keep family medicine intact in Cook County so patients can keep the medical home they need. If family physicians don't care for the families of Cook County, who will?